


The Cost of Truth

by pipisafoat



Series: Draco Takeover [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Voldemort Wins, Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, POV Draco Malfoy, POV Second Person, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-13
Updated: 2016-07-13
Packaged: 2018-07-23 20:48:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7479426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pipisafoat/pseuds/pipisafoat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Draco makes a choice to restore his family's honor at the expense of ... well, he'll find out the cost.</p><p>This story, as the others in Draco Takeover, stands alone and are only connected thematically. Point of divergence in Deathly Hallows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Cost of Truth

**Author's Note:**

> Credit as ever to my sister Pam for the title and the three-second beta job.
> 
> This story, as the others in Draco Takeover, stands alone and are only connected thematically. Point of divergence in Deathly Hallows.
> 
> Content notes in tags.

“They say they’ve got Potter. Draco, come here."

Your blood freezes in your veins. If Greyback and his band of dirty scavengers really have caught Potter, then things are about to change. You step toward your mother even as you wonder if the changes would be for better or for worse.

“Well, boy?"

The person in front of you might be your childhood enemy, but you really don’t want to get that close to the werewolf to be certain.

“Well, Draco?” Your father sounds both impatient and excited, an unusually undignified tenor to his voice. “Is it? Is it Harry Potter?"

You step the slightest bit closer. The boy looks enough like Potter, but the clear Stinging Hex on him makes it difficult to be certain. You think fast. You could say it isn’t him, but the Dark Lord would find out if you were wrong. Your family is in enough danger as it is. You won’t deny anything unless you’re sure. You could stall, ask for more time, claim you aren’t sure - that’s true enough, technically speaking, but you know that’s Granger and Weasley with a black-haired boy they cared enough about to disguise his features. It could be a very elaborate ruse, but it’s unlikely. Still, you can’t risk your family summoning the Dark Lord for anyone other than Potter.

If you stall, if they’re thrown into the cells and the Dark Lord isn’t summoned yet, if it is Potter, what happens then? Will he find some way to escape? Maybe your old house elf Dobby will show up unexpectedly and empty your dungeons, carry them all to safety, and eventually slay the Dark Lord, leaving you and your family free of his tyranny. Maybe you’ll be given a chance to switch sides seconds before his death, allowing you to claim mercy. Maybe your parents would change allegiances with you. Maybe Longbottom will brew a perfect potion that provides the necessary distraction for Potter to finish the Dark Lord, and maybe Crabbe will reveal a brilliant invention to put wizards on Saturn.

No, there’s only one avenue open to you. You pull your wand, still keeping a careful distance from the werewolf, and cast the counter curse before anyone can react.

“Yes, Father, I do believe it is Harry Potter,” you say calmly as you slide your wand back into its holster. You turn and leave the room as your father presses a finger to his Dark Mark and summons your Lord. You may be a full Death Eater, but you don’t have the influence to be a part of his Inner Circle, and you want no part more than necessary in the torture and murder of dissenters your own age.

You hear it all, though. You hear the Dark Lord cackle with glee as he finds Potter, Granger, and Weasley trussed up and waiting for him in your dining room. You hear Him roar in fury at Aunt Bellatrix, though you take pains never to find out why. You hear her screams end abruptly, and you hear your mother’s near-silent cries that night at the loss of her only worthy sister.

You hear about the mandatory wizard meeting at the Ministry, and you attend in the section reserved for loyal if somewhat unworthy Death Eaters. Your parents are restored to the Inner Circle, but you’re relieved to avoid that honor for now. You don’t watch, but you hear the gasps, sobs, pleas, and screams as the Boy-Who-Lived is murdered in a public place. You hear the incantation for Fiendfyre and smell the unmistakable scent of burning flesh before you close yourself off entirely behind your rudimentary Occlumency barriers. The Dark Lord notices this and demotes you another level that night. You are now safe as a member of the Death Watch, a newly devised group loyal to the Dark Lord who have no use other than to patrol the streets and keep order in the new wizarding civilization. You don’t seek out glory like your fellow Watchers, but you still have the occasional Mudblood show up and out themselves to you over the years. You’ll look the other way for minor infractions and not investigate too deeply into people’s lives, but you still answer to the Lord Minister for Magic. All confirmed Mudbloods must be turned over to him. You will never rise above Death Watcher - by your own choice - but you can’t defy the Lord Minister.


End file.
